Patch, before hives made him miserable.
Hives are raised, red areas caused by allergic reactions. They are often intensely itchy. With hives, and other allergic symptoms, the immune system is reacting not to a real threat, but to an imagined threat.
The immune system, which controls white blood cells (WBCs), is responsible for Patch's hives and for all allergy symptoms. The soldiers of the immune system, the WBCs, go to war for a perceived threat, and with allergies, as with the war in Iraq, damage is out of proportion to the threat. In the body's allergy war, the major weapon is histamine, which is stored in packets inside WBCs.
With hives, the immune system senses a threat and sends chemical messages to dilate blood vessels. With blood vessels dilated, red and white blood cells flood into the area. Vessels become so dilated that the cells separate slightly and WBCs and fluid leak out into the skin. As WBCs travel between the skinn cells, they release packets of histamine, and histamine further dilates the capillary vessels. The skin turns red, hot, and swollen. The swollen, red areas can form a rash of tiny pinpoints or they can form large raised areas recognized as hives.
In addition to causing heat, redness, and swelling, histamine can cause itching, headaches, and malaise. Histamine, not the trigger that set the allergic reaction off, makes Patch miserable.
The allergic triggers that caused Patch's hives could have been anything he ate, breathed, or touched.
Examples of things pets eat that cause hives include:
· drugs,
· fish, and
· tomatoes.
Pets can also be allergic to worms and parasites that are inside their body.
Examples of things pets breathe that cause hives include:
· tree, grass, and flower pollen,
· burning weeds, including burning poison ivy,
· room sprays and disinfectants,
· cigarette smoke,
· human perfumes and after shaves, and
· pet perfume sprays.
Examples of things pets touch that cause hives include:
· soaps and lotions,
· poison ivy, poison oak
· cleaners used on floors and carpets,
· rubber mattresses,
· cedar chips in dog beds,
· preservatives used on dog houses and decks, and
· cedar and aromatic woods.
Our friend, Patch, has hives so severely that he wakes up at night and scratches. Because Patch sleeps beside his mom and dad, they wake up, too. After a few sleepless nights, Patch’s family is ready to check into a hotel to clarify whether the problem is in the house or on the dog.
In future blogs, we’ll cover treatments for hives. We'll also cover supplements and herbs that can help prevent hives and allergic reactions. These supplements and herbs make WBCs less inclined to mount an aggressive response when there is no true threat to a pet's well being. We only wish Iraq could be this easy.
The immune system, which controls white blood cells (WBCs), is responsible for Patch's hives and for all allergy symptoms. The soldiers of the immune system, the WBCs, go to war for a perceived threat, and with allergies, as with the war in Iraq, damage is out of proportion to the threat. In the body's allergy war, the major weapon is histamine, which is stored in packets inside WBCs.
With hives, the immune system senses a threat and sends chemical messages to dilate blood vessels. With blood vessels dilated, red and white blood cells flood into the area. Vessels become so dilated that the cells separate slightly and WBCs and fluid leak out into the skin. As WBCs travel between the skinn cells, they release packets of histamine, and histamine further dilates the capillary vessels. The skin turns red, hot, and swollen. The swollen, red areas can form a rash of tiny pinpoints or they can form large raised areas recognized as hives.
In addition to causing heat, redness, and swelling, histamine can cause itching, headaches, and malaise. Histamine, not the trigger that set the allergic reaction off, makes Patch miserable.
The allergic triggers that caused Patch's hives could have been anything he ate, breathed, or touched.
Examples of things pets eat that cause hives include:
· drugs,
· fish, and
· tomatoes.
Pets can also be allergic to worms and parasites that are inside their body.
Examples of things pets breathe that cause hives include:
· tree, grass, and flower pollen,
· burning weeds, including burning poison ivy,
· room sprays and disinfectants,
· cigarette smoke,
· human perfumes and after shaves, and
· pet perfume sprays.
Examples of things pets touch that cause hives include:
· soaps and lotions,
· poison ivy, poison oak
· cleaners used on floors and carpets,
· rubber mattresses,
· cedar chips in dog beds,
· preservatives used on dog houses and decks, and
· cedar and aromatic woods.
Our friend, Patch, has hives so severely that he wakes up at night and scratches. Because Patch sleeps beside his mom and dad, they wake up, too. After a few sleepless nights, Patch’s family is ready to check into a hotel to clarify whether the problem is in the house or on the dog.
In future blogs, we’ll cover treatments for hives. We'll also cover supplements and herbs that can help prevent hives and allergic reactions. These supplements and herbs make WBCs less inclined to mount an aggressive response when there is no true threat to a pet's well being. We only wish Iraq could be this easy.
No comments:
Post a Comment